There are at least two stories within “The Imitation Game” that, by themselves, would make for gripping films. There is Alan Turing the maths genius (the English add an ‘s’ to math, for some reason), and there is Alan Turing the closeted homosexual, in a country where being gay is illegal. Since it is difficult to secure funding for any movie, the obvious choice, of course, is to combine these two massive plots to make one hell of a film. There are times when the two stories get in the way of one another, but thanks to a cracking script and superb performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game” gives “A Beautiful Mind” a run for its money in the “damaged genius period piece” genre, assuming there is such a thing.

World War II is in full swing, and Alan Turing (Cumberbatch), a Cambridge maths professor, applies for a job with the British military because they need code breakers, and Turing is convinced that he is the brightest mind they will ever find. Despite bombing the interview in spectacular fashion, Turing is recruited to join a team of math geniuses. Their task: break the Enigma code, the German encryption tool that is sent out on open airwaves but is so complex that no one has been able to solve it. (Turing’s team even has an Enigma machine, but the code is so dense that it is of no use.) Turing pulls some unpopular moves to put himself in charge of the group, but eventually earns the group’s respect. His commanding officer (Charles Dance), however, needs results, and because of the aforementioned bad interview, he’s looking for a reason to shut Turing’s program down. In comes plucky Joan Clarke (Knightley), who has the misfortune of being a female good at maths. Turing, naturally, bonds with her instantly, since they are both outcasts. Turing and Clarke do amazing things together, and just when they think it’s time to celebrate, that is when they realize that they have a whole new set of decisions to make, and they are far more difficult than the previous set of problems that faced them.

Did I say that there are two stories here? There are actually closer to five. You have Turing the maths genius; Turing the targeted homosexual and/or Communist; Clarke the mold-breaking female daring to do something other than secretarial work; the spy in their midst; and the stone-cold reality of actually solving the problem at hand, but then having to make horrific choices that send innocent people to their deaths in order to prevent the Nazis from realizing that the Allies have cracked the code. It’s that last one that gets the shortest shrift, which makes sense given the timing of everything, but is the bitterest pill to swallow because damn, that is a Faustian bargain if ever there was one, and it is rife with dramatic potential.

Most people know Cumberbatch as Sherlock in “Sherlock” or Khan in “Star Trek Into Darkness,” both alpha males beyond compare, which is what makes his performance here such a treat. Like Sherlock, his Turing is clearly the smartest man in the room, yet his body betrays his intellectual superiority at every opportunity, thanks to the occasional stutter and the reluctance to make eye contact. By comparison, the hardest thing Knightley has to do is look plain while suffering the chauvinists all around her. (She actually looks fantastic as a plain Joan, as it were, and delivers great work in the process.) Dance is the perfect foil for Cumberbatch, one who loathes Turing but honors the chain of command, even when it instructs him to let Turing have his way. The rest of the maths geniuses do not leave much of an impression, though Mark Strong is solid in a brief supporting role as the puppet master behind the code-breaking team.

Even though each day in “The Imitation Game” is its own ticking clock – the team needs to crack each code by midnight, otherwise their work for the day is worthless – the film itself is not dripping with tension, and that is actually a good thing. After all, there are more than enough stories within this story to keep the audience engaged, and Graham Moore’s screenplay, with only a handful of exceptions, does a masterful job of spreading the wealth so that each story, and as a result, each character, gets the right amount of screen time. It’s an exceptional piece of work, while serving as a commentary of how the fight for human rights is still very much in its infancy, and how far we still have to go. If you’re assembling a pre-Academy Awards must-see list, this absolutely needs to be on it.

It’s incredible what can be achieved when you combine music with film, and John Carney exploited that perfect pairing with his musical drama “Once.” It’s been eight years since the small indie walked away with an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and in that time, the Irish-born writer/director made a couple films in his native country that flew so far under the radar that they never saw release here. So while it may seem a tad desperate of Carney to mark his Hollywood debut with another music-driven relationship drama, he’s simply playing to his strengths. “Begin Again” doesn’t quite have the same magic of “Once,” but it’s a sweet and cuddly crowd-pleaser highlighted by a pair of great performances and some catchy tunes.

Mark Ruffalo stars as Dan Mulligan, a self-described “selfish, depressed prick” who’s just been fired from the very record label he helped found. While on a bender later that night, he stumbles into a bar hosting an open mic event and is immediately moved by an original song performed by Greta (Keira Knightley), a British singer-songwriter who’s just had an equally bad day after being dumped by her rock star boyfriend (Adam Levine) following his first taste of success. Determined to share Greta’s indisputable talent with the rest of the world, Dan convinces her to record an album with a live band in different locations across New York City in the hope that he can convince his former business partner (Mos Def) to sign Greta to their label and rescue his job.

To label “Begin Again” as a romantic comedy would cheapen the dramatic elements in the film’s script, but it’s definitely a much more lighthearted affair than “Once,” even if the overall theme is very similar – namely, that it’s less about these two people failing in love with each other than the music they make together. The soundtrack is also really good, featuring an infectious array of bluesy folk-pop songs co-written by Carney, “Once” star Glen Hansard, New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander and others, especially those performed by a surprisingly capable Knightley, who has a Norah Jones-like quality to her voice. The idea behind Greta’s album may be a little gimmicky, but the city-wide recording sessions provide some great visuals to accompany the musical sequences. However, the best moment comes early on when Ruffalo’s character imagines an orchestrated arrangement around Greta’s acoustic solo that’s about as close to crawling inside the mind of a record producer as you’ll likely get.

But for as much as the movie depends on the music, it’s just as reliant on its two stars, who form such a delightful chemistry that it’s hard not to get caught up in their fairy tale. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of Adam Levine, who’s not only a pretty bad actor, but whose subplot is so clichéd that it would have been time better spent further exploring the relationship between Dan and his estranged daughter (Hailee Steinfeld). It’s a good thing that the Maroon 5 frontman has such a small role, because he’s easily the worst part about the film – save for its painfully generic title, of course.

The movie’s original title (“Can a Song Save Your Life?”) wasn’t much better, but at least it was relative to what the film was about. And considering just how important that message is to both characters’ respective arcs, you’d think that Carney would have fought a little harder to keep it. Or maybe it just wasn’t a battle worth fighting, because lousy title or not, “Begin Again” is basically the movie equivalent of a YouTube cat video: cute and amusing, but not exactly bursting with substance.

Chris Pine is both James T. Kirk and Jack Ryan. Has anyone ever anchored two franchises that big at the same time? That’s like being both James Bond and Luke Skywalker, and is it wrong to suspect that Paramount, which owns both the “Star Trek” and Jack Ryan franchises, might make him the next Indiana Jones? They have to know that Indy heir apparent Shia LaBeouf is box office poison at the moment, not to mention “retired.” We’d speculate about Pine becoming the new Ethan Hunt, but Tom Cruise would have him killed well before that ever happened.

All kidding aside, Pine is a good choice for Ryan. He’s handsome but not too handsome – which is helpful when you’re CIA and need to blend in – and he is believable as an action hero, an element which is ramped up considerably in the reboot “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.” This is without question the most action-packed Jack Ryan movie to date. It’s a bit formulaic, but that seems acceptable if it means that the end result is less dull than “Patriot Games.” From this vantage point, that’s a win.

Inspired by the terrorist attack on 9/11, a young John Ryan (Pine) enlists in the Marines to serve his country. Two years later, on an assignment in Afghanistan, Jack’s helicopter is attacked, and during his lengthy recovery, he attracts the attention of Navy Commander William Harper (Kevin Costner), also a CIA operative. Jack is brought in to the group as an analyst, putting his skills to work on Wall Street. Fast forward 10 years, where Jack works for a large firm and discovers that his employer has lost access to billions of dollars in accounts that are owned by a large Russian client. Jack gets approval to travel to Moscow and audit the now-missing accounts. Jack suspects something isn’t right, and his suspicion is confirmed from the moment he arrives, and an attempt is made on his life. Run, Marine, run!

Yep, Jack Ryan gets an origin story, but it’s thankfully brief. Jack enlists, Jack meets cute med student in rehab (Keira Knightley), Jack balances secret life and regular life poorly, Jack goes into the field for the first time, shit gets real. From there, “Jack Ryan” goes full-on “Mission: Impossible,” which makes sense considering that the script was co-written by David Koepp, who wrote Cruise’s first “M:I.” At times, this leads to a different set of problems – yes, this is fresh for a Jack Ryan movie, but it pales in comparison to the best “M:I” moments – but Kenneth Branagh, working double duty as director and villain (he is the boss of the Russian firm), keeps things moving at a quick clip in the hopes that the audience will continue to compare this to the other Jack Ryan movies rather than the “Mission: Impossible” movies. To his credit, it works, at least as long as the movie’s playing. After that, well, reality sets in.

Pine is a curious case. He has his charms, but he hasn’t shown a lot of emotional depth as an actor. That doesn’t mean that he’ll never develop that aspect of his game, but he’d be wise to look into it before he loses primo franchise roles like this to more versatile actors. Branagh, a.k.a. The Male Meryl, seems like a more than plausible Russian to these untrained American ears, but the standout performance here is by Costner, underplaying his role in the best way imaginable. He never raises his voice, even when he’s shooting ghouls that are about to end Jack’s life. (“Duck.” *blam*) Everyone loves Keira Knightley, but to be honest, she has yet to impress me. She’s perfectly fine, but never exceptional, and while she has a nice tête-à-tête scene with Branagh, it’s not revelatory.

Tom Clancy loved the small stuff; his Jack Ryan novels were defined by it, and it would be that one tiny detail that he tucked away in Chapter 4 that would lead to the downfall of the bad guy and reward the studious reader for paying attention and connecting the dots. It was this attention to detail, however, that caused most of the Jack Ryan movies to be somewhat lifeless (we still stand by “The Hunt for Red October,” though). Odds are, Clancy would not have approved of “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.” My wife has another take: “This is the first Jack Ryan movie that didn’t put me to sleep.” She’s hoping the studio will use that for the Blu-ray cover.